Business news

MINSK, 1 December (BelTA) – Belarus will start supplying Gomselmash-made cotton pickers to Tajikistan in 2018, Belarusian Industry Minister Vitaly Vovk told the media on 1 December, BelTA has learned.

“We successfully tested Gomselmash cotton pickers in 2017. Certain recommendations have been made, and we will take them into account. We will start supplying the cotton pickers in 2018,” the minister said.

A deal has been sealed to deliver 24 Amkodor vehicles to Tajikistan via the Promagroleasing company. “We need a guarantee either from a bank or from the government. I think that we will sort things out during this visit, and the first vehicles will be delivered via Promagroleasing,” Vitaly Vovk clarified.

Further supplies of MAZ and BelAZ vehicles are under consideration, too.

The minister recalled that an assembly plant for MTZ vehicles was opened in Tajikistan in November 2017. The first tractors have already been assembled; the plant’s further development is now under discussion.

“We have great and interesting prospects. We will make much headway in industrial cooperation. Then, there are plans to set up a free economic zone between Tajikistan and Afghanistan. We have certain interests there, too, namely to expand the possibilities of this zone, including for trade with Afghanistan. We will discuss these matters at the session of the Belarus-Afghanistan intergovernmental commission in 2018. This will help us increase the production capacities of our joint venture and, probably, open another one in the future,” Vitaly Vovk stated.

Over 15 Belarusian companies have commodity distribution networks in Tajikistan, among them BelAZ, MAZ, MTZ, Amkodor, Gomselmash, and Bobruiskagromash.

The main bilateral project is the development of the MTZ and Bobruiskagromash joint facility to assemble tractors, mounted and trailed equipment at the Agrotechservice company in the city of Hisor. The facility assembles Belarus-82.1 tractors, dump trailers and semitrailers. Plans have been made to produce more than 10 models of agricultural and special-purpose equipment. The facility was launched in November 2017.

As of today, there are over 200 BelAZ units of quarry equipment operating in Tajikistan.